Cithara Sanctorum: Psalmy

Last year I reviewed the wonderful album of Genevan Psalms in Polish produced by Cithara Sanctorum. This was shortly after I had had the privilege of spending time with Andrzej Polaszek, a Reformed pastor in Poland whose wife Agata directs Cithara Sanctorum. Because they live in the city of Poznan, the collection is known as the Psałterz Poznański. In my review, I highly recommended this album but hinted that it might be hard to come by for North Americans and others outside of Poland. However, the entire album has now been posted on YouTube for the entire world to enjoy: Psalmy -- album Cithara Sanctorum. Here is Psalm 11:

Robson goes Genevan

Two days ago, I alerted readers to Sam Robson's just released album of through-composed Psalms. Today he has posted a rendition of the familiar canticle often sung during Advent, Comfort, Comfort Now My People, a metrical versification of Isaiah 40:1-5 set to the tune for Genevan Psalm 42. Very nice indeed!

Cithara Sanctorum: Psalm 46

Our friends Andrzej and Agata Polaszek have just posted on their YouTube channel Psalm 46 from their new album, Cithara Sanctorum: Psalmy, which I reviewed last year. The text is from their collection of Polish-language Psalms, Psałterz Poznański.

Incidentally, I was privileged to spend time with Andrzei Polaszek here in Hamilton last September.

Robson's Psalter

Sam Robson is a gifted British musician who, for several years now, has posted on his popular YouTube channel videos of himself singing all parts to songs he himself has arranged, demonstrating thereby his singular virtuosity. These include popular songs, folk songs, and hymns. Now he has released an album dedicated to the biblical Psalms, three of which he has posted online. These psalms are through-composed rather than metrical and use the English Standard Version of the Bible as text. Here are Psalms 3, 15, and 67:

Psalm 100: thousands sing God's praise

A dozen years ago, a huge congregation assembled for the Reformed Presbyterian International Conference sang Psalm 100, set to the familiar tune, LOBE DEN HERREN.

Psalm 42: Goudimel, Tallis, Palestrina

This is quite lovely. A performance of three settings of Psalm 42, beginning with the Genevan version in French, proceeding to the version from Archbishop Parker's Psalter in English, and concluding with a Latin version composed by Palestrina. This was posted nine years ago, but somehow I managed to miss it until now.

Reformation worship

I recently read a fascinating book by Karin Maag, Worshiping With the Reformers, published by IVP Academic in 2021. Maag is Director of the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies at Calvin University and was one of my hosts two years ago when I lectured there on the Genevan Psalter. Those of us who are heir to the Reformation may be tempted to think of the 16th century as a golden era when Christians were keen on worshipping the Triune God in spirit and in truth, readily discarding the unbiblical accretions of the mediaeval church. Reading Maag will quickly lay this notion to rest. She reminds us that in many if not most places reformation was a movement spearheaded by ecclesiastical and political elites, often compelling reluctant parishioners accustomed to the old ways to conform to the newer and less familiar practices.

De Nieuwe Psalmberijming: Psalm 14

Here is Psalm 14, which is a near doublet of Psalm 53. In this versification, stanzas 1, 2, and 4 are nearly identical in the two psalms, while 3 differs. In the Hebrew, Psalm 14 is a Yahwistic (LORD) version of the Elohistic (God) 53 (or perhaps vice versa), although this is not reflected in the new versification, except for two uses of the Dutch HEER in stanzas 1 and 3 of 14.

Psalter review: Trinity Hymnal (1961)

Why review a collection that is more than sixty years old and has now been replaced by a later edition? There's a deep personal reason: I grew up with the first edition of the Trinity Hymnal, published in 1961 by the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. It is not exactly a psalter, yet it manages to contain metrical versifications for the vast majority, if not all, of the biblical Psalms. These, however, are scattered amongst the hymns, such that, as a child, I had no idea that we were singing the Psalms. I still have in my personal library our family's copy of the Trinity Hymnal, with my mother's distinctive handwriting inside the front cover.

De Nieuwe Psalmberijming: Psalm 100

The congregation of the Hervormde Gemeente in Beekbergen sings Psalm 100 according to the new Dutch versification of the Psalms:

Brian Wright: Psalm 81

Our friend Brian Wright has posted a performance of Psalm 81. The text is from the RPCNA's Book of Psalms for Worship, and the tune, NEW MOON, is Wright's own composition.

De Nieuwe Psalmberijming: Psalm 5

 And here now is Psalm 5 in the new Dutch versification of the Genevan Psalter:

De Nieuwe Psalmberijming: Psalm 121

I've long loved the Genevan tune for Psalm 121, especially Zoltán Kodály's moving arrangement. Here is Roeland Scherf and company singing their own version of this psalm using the text of the new Dutch versification:

De Nieuwe Psalmberijming: Psalms 15 and 87

Singing from the new Psalm versification in the Netherlands proceeds apace. Immediately below is Psalm 15 sung concert style with an upbeat rhythm:

Then we have Psalm 87 sung by a congregation:

Psaume 27

This is not from the Genevan Psalter, but it is in French and uses what would seem to be a standard hymn tune with a 9 8 9 8 4 metre. But I've been unable to find it in my hymnals, and it's not familiar to me. It may be better known in France than in North America. Here is Psalm 27 sung a cappella:

 

 

Addendum: I have new information from my friend Lucas Freire. The tune is by Franz Josef Haydn, and the lyrics are by Henri Abraham César Malan (1787-1864), the Swiss Reformed poet who was converted during the Réveil, the evangelical revival that swept through Europe following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The earliest publication Freire could find was in the fourth edition of Chants Évangéliques, published in 1892 in Lausanne. Incidentally, while this version of Psalm 27 is numbered 55 in this volume, number 38 is Genevan Psalm 103, 52 is Genevan Psalm 116, and 59 is a christological interpretation of Psalm 23. Number 49 is the Magnificat from Luke 1:46-55.

Psalm 25: A toi, mon Dieu, mon coeur monte

You can never hear too many versions of Genevan Psalm 25 en français! Here is a particularly delightful performance of this Psalm: A toi, mon Dieu, mon coeur monte.

Psalm 130: Du fond de ma pensée

Jean-Louis Michard conducts the Ensemble da Camara at the Abbaye Saint-Vincent, Chantelle, France:

Psaumes 25 et 92: Mission Timothée

Mission Timothée, on which I have posted before, offers us two Genevan Psalm performances below. The first is Psalm 25: A toi, mon Dieu, mon coeur monte. The second is Psalm 92: Oh, que c'est chose belle.

Psalm 118: Rendez à Dieu l'honneur suprême

During this Paschal week it is appropriate to sing Psalm 118:

Psalm 23: Grail/Gelineau

This is perhaps the best known of the Grail/Gelineau Psalms sung in Roman Catholic churches: